1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a treatment of muscular injuries such as sprains or strains and in particular it relates to a cold pack to be applied to an area of the injury.
2. Background of the Invention
It is known that it is beneficial to treat injuries to the muscles such as strains or sprains by the immediate application of a cooling device to the injured area. Immediate cooling of the injured area provides many physiological benefits such as limiting the amount of swelling etc., and aids in reducing the discomfort to the individual.
Individuals involved in competitive sports are most likely to suffer an injury of this type, particularly those involved in a contact sport such as football. Since sprains and strains are a possibility in any football game, the coaches and trainers are prepared to treat these injuries. Typically, when an injury occurs, ice is utilized to provide the means to cool the area. In most cases, the ice is on site, either in bulk in a cooler or packed in individual bags. When an injury occurs, a bag of ice is applied to the injured area.
Although ice provides the desired cooling effect, its use has several disadvantages.
Ice, whether it is stored in bulk or in individual bags, tends to solidify into a solid mass. This means that it ha to be broken into smaller usable pieces. If it is in a bag, it is difficult to break up the ice without causing damage to the bag creating the problem of leakage as the ice melts. If the ice is not broken into small enough pieces, the bag will not conform to the area of the injury, and the desired cooling effect to the whole injured area does not occur. Ice is too cold, that is, its heat absorption rate is too high and causes too much discomfort to be applied to an injury on a continuous basis. Therefore, the ice bag is commonly applied intermittently.
There is not an effective and easy method of retaining the ice bag on the injured area, especially when the ice bag has to be applied for short periods of time. In addition, as the ice melts within the bag, the shape of the bag changes requiring repositioning of the bag on the injury. Furthermore, the ice melts quickly and must be replenished over the course of a couple of hours, a common time lag between injury and treatment at a medical facility.